All this week we have had a mission team in Puerto Rico helping with clean up from last year's Hurricane Maria. Here is a report from Cyrus Mull, one of our youth, who is on the trip. The team will return home late Saturday night.

The warmth of a parent's touch, the laughter of a family, the joy of a celebration, the beauty of a sunrise, the sound of waves lapping against a sandy beach, and many more experiences shape our minds, relationships, and expectations.

The goal of a small group leader is to create intentional relationships with each child in their group and to gain the trust of each child. It is that trust that breaks down walls for discussing matters of faith.

You can now sign up to be a part of a special Servanthood Saturday teams that work exclusively in the areas that you are interested in. Signing up doesn't commit you to being available on any given Saturday. It just means you want to be informed about certain kinds of community needs.

As a kid in Sunday School, we would use a felt board to display the Christian Calendar. We'd move the little felt arrow around the wheel each Sunday as we approached Christmas, building anticipation and wonder.

Greetings that transformed the lives of a young carpenter and his fiancée. Greetings that redirected the path of wise men. Christmas Greetings that whisper in the heart of those who are lost, lonely, and looking.

Those words must have been devastating to them. Their grandchildren, but not they themselves, would get to go back to Jerusalem. Their lot was to live in exile. That was God's plan to give them hope and a future?

The East Side Pie Auction is coming up this Sunday evening, May 21, at 5:30PM. If you've never come to the pie auction, then you have been missing out on one of the most fun events of the year. Here's why.

Jeff is an Anderson University alum who attended East Side while in college. Jeff is an educator, actor, comedian, and preacher serving on the leadership team at North Hills Church of God in Phoenix as a teaching pastor.

The Board of Elders invite you to help us celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Pastor Kerry's ministry as Senior Pastor at East Side Church, in the parlor Sunday, December 4, immediately following second service. And here is a blog by Jeff Jenness in honor of the occasion.

We heard such sorrowful stories of great personal loss - fleeing Syria with small children - taking only what they could carry and leaving everything behind - leaving friends and family - or people lost to violence.

There is something powerful about knowing you are in the exact place God wants you be and that you are doing what He has called you to do. Even on the hard days the peace that comes when you are obedient to God’s calling makes you keep going and keep working.

In spite of all the lights and wrapping paper in our decorations, there is still the stark simplicity of a manger in the stable cave where Jesus was born because there was "no room for them in the inn."

We will have the Peru Young Circus Performers. We will have magician Daniel Lusk. There will be AU music groups, the Mounds State Park Naturalist, a model train display and a covered bridge model. Even Johnny Appleseed will make an appearance.

The parking lot will be full of bounce houses, games, and more. There will be balloon animals for the kids. There will be hot dogs, cotton candy, and popcorn for everyone (did we mention that it's free)!

All this week we have been having VBS. And all this week parents and VBS helpers have been posting to social media with the hashtag #EastSideVBS. Here are some of the pictures posted to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In one village they will be adding a corrugated tin roof to the church. In a second village where the local congregation has been working for two and a half years building their church, the team will pitch in on whatever the next job is.

This country is full of color and art. It is everywhere - in the clothing of the women, on the dump trucks filling the streets, on the bicycle rickshaws we pass, in the plethora of fruit filling the markets.

On that first Easter morning, the disciples huddled in a locked upper room, afraid of Roman authorities, their lives dominated by fear and anxiety. All the while Jesus had arisen and conquered all fear.

While your kids are digging deeper into God's Word and discovering how it applies to them, you’ll look at those same passages, see how they apply to issues you face with your kids and learn how to have confident conversations with your kids about those issues.

There are markers on our life journey which impact our living forever. Opportunities or obstacles which call us forward or stop us in our tracks. These are the trust points which shape us into who we are.

Last fall the owner of a local women's fitness ministry approached our Leadership Team about the possibility of moving their ministry into our facility. After prayerful consideration we agreed to receive the gift of the equipment and the ministry.

An Anderson community leader posted on Facebook recently, "Visited East Side Church of God this weekend. I was overwhelmed by all they are doing for the people of Anderson. Our community should be grateful for a church that cares so much for people!"

The Peru Amateur Circus will be returning along with Johnny Appleseed, Abraham Lincoln, music, games, race cars, snacks, a Mounds State Park display, and more. Plus this year we welcome Hoosier illusionist Daniel Lusk.

On Friday, June 13 a team of 24 from East Side and other churches will leave for Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Please pray for this team as they serve, work and worship alongside Mission of Hope through June 21. Below are pre-trip thoughts from two team members.

Sunday morning, June 8 we are commissioning a team of 25 who will leave on Friday, June 13 for Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Please pray for this team as they serve, work and worship alongside Mission of Hope through June 21. Below are pre-trip thoughts from two team members.

I admit I'm one of those people who attends auctions with some apprehension, afraid to scratch my face lest I accidentally bid on a set of Hummels or something. So I wasn't sure what to expect when I attended my first pie auction at East Side Church a few years back. What I found was probably the most fun event on the East Side calendar.

I saw them for the first time on March 15. They had forced their way through layers of dirt and even a little bit of the snowy remains that decorated the sides of our driveway after this historic winter.